AN/ Evening guys! Jeez it feels like a lifetime since I've posted on here, and I'm really sorry for vanishing for these last… few weeks… months… anyway, I'm home again, home being here. I've missed writing and I've missed you guys, so I'm happy to be back if you'll have me.

Things have been pretty rough this last month or so, heading back to how I was earlier on in the year which has been kinda scary but I'm proud to say I'm through it again. I've fought my demons and let go of the things that were tearing me apart, and I feel better. I'm me, and I'm happy and I'm doing what I do best. I'm writing and telling the story, the thing I love to do the most.

Not to be gushy or cringey, but I just want to give a massive shoutout to all of my friends who will probably read this soon. They're all angels, and I know I couldn't have gotten through everything that's happened since October without them. I love each and every one of them to the bones, and they make me so happy. It's taken me sixteen years to find these guys, and now I have done, I know what real friends and love are. They build me up instead of tearing me down, and they're there when I feel like the world's against me. They're the best and I love them so, so much.

So after reading this, maybe get in touch with your friends, or check up on someone you haven't seen in a while. Talk to the people who make you happy, because those people are the ones you want to keep close.

Anyway, endearing message about friendship and love aside, welcome back to my fic. I've been away for a while, but here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it…

"So… Mom…" Jason began, as he pulled the door of the red Tesla shut. "Who was that you were talking to?"

"Who was who?" Cheryl asked, only paying half-attention to her son as she put the car into reverse so she could escape the parking lot outside Pop's Diner.

"That lady," Jason said, painfully aware of the way his Mom's hands clenched around the steering wheel as he pressed the subject.

"That lady?"

"Yeah, the one you were talking to when you went to order," Jason explained, looking at his Mom expectantly. "Who is she?"

"Toni? Oh, she's just somebody I used to know JJ," Cheryl replied dismissively, diverting her attention to the road despite its lack of traffic.

Jason did not need to know about Toni, not really. Her son did not need to hear about how she ran from one of the best things that ever happened to her, nor did he need to be aware of the regret that smothered her every day because of it.

"So what is she one of your old friends? Like Auntie Betty and Uncle Jug?"

"Something like that JJ," Cheryl mused, giving her son a knowing smile.

"Well, she's very pretty," Jason stated, smirking when he saw his Mom's face burn a vicious shade of red. "What do you think, Mom?"

"Well, uh," Cheryl stammered, "you might be right there JJ."

"Of course I am." Jason shrugged, looking out of the window to stare at the trees flashing by as they cruised down the road. "I'm ten Mom, not an idiot."

Wincing slightly, Cheryl felt herself being dragged back in time to a moment nearly twenty years earlier, when her brother had something remarkably similar to their mother at the dinner table.

She vividly remembered how angry Penelope Blossom had been at Jason's remark, and of the angry red mark, a mark that was a clear shadow of her mother's handprint, that had graced her brother's face for weeks afterwards.

She remembered the shouting that night, her mother's scathing voice hurling insults at a boy who wasn't quite ten, the loud slap that echoed throughout Thornhill while Cheryl hid in her bedroom...


"You will not speak to me like that!" Penelope raged, and Cheryl choked back a sob. "Jason Michael Blossom, language like that is completely disgraceful. You are disgraceful. You're just another disappointment. A total blemish on the family name."

There was a brief pause and – even from upstairs in her room – Cheryl heard the sharp thud as Penelope's hand came into contact with her brother's face. She winced and sat with her back against the door, terrified that her mother's blind fury would carry the older woman up the stairs and make her burst into that bedroom, frozen in the fear that her mother's wrath was not limited to her brother.

"You see that maple syrup in the barns, Jason." Penelope drawled, her voice lower, seemingly more threatening, than before. "You see how precious it is. How it sells. What it's worth. It's priceless, Jason, just like the blood that pulses through your veins. Your blood is Blossom blood."

There was a pause, and it didn't take much effort to imagine her mother prowling around the lounge, leaning in towards her son as she spoke. "And Blossom blood is sacred. You need to live up to your name, Jason Blossom, instead of constantly being a failure to it. Now go to your room. Get out of my sight before I change my mind."

Her brother didn't wait for their mother to say another word before making his way upstairs, silently sneaking into Cheryl's bedroom.

"JJ," she crooned, "you shouldn't be here."

"Cher, are you okay?"

Even as a nine year old, Cheryl knew there was something very wrong with that setup. "Of course I am JJ," she whispered, placing a gentle hand on her brother's face, lightly tracing the growing red mark over Jason's cheek. "The real question is, are you?"

Jason shrugged and looked at his twin sister, their eyes meeting for all of a second. "I'm fine, Cher," he lied, breaking the brief moment of eye contact between them. "I'm good."

"Are you sure?" Cheryl pressed, raising an eyebrow at her brother, not believing him.

"Positive," Jason confirmed.

They both jumped as there was a clatter downstairs, followed by a smash.

"I hate it here, JJ," Cheryl quivered, and Jason put his arm around his sister's shoulders. "She's scary, especially when she gets mad like that."

"I know, Cher," Jason crooned, holding his sister close. "I hate it here too."

There was another smash, and they both winced when they heard their mother curse.

"I'm scared JJ."

"I know, but everything's going to be okay Cher, I promise."

Cheryl looked at Jason in disbelief. "You can't promise that."

"As long as I'm here, Cheryl, I won't let her hurt you."

A third smash downstairs made Cheryl whimper slightly and hide her face in Jason's shoulder. There was the sound of clicking heels downstairs, and the clicking was growing louder…

"She's coming up here, JJ," Cheryl panicked, jumping away from Jason. "You need to go."

"Cheryl, it's okay."

"She told you to be in your room," the redhead rambled, walking towards her bed. "She's going to get mad if she finds you in here."

"It's okay, Cher – " Jason tried to argue.

"No JJ, it's not." Cheryl interrupted, refusing to let her brother continue. Her eyes darted towards the door in fright, and she lowered her voice, sounding a whole lot older than the nine year old she was when she next spoke. "There's only so much china she can break before she has to move onto something else."

Saying that, she placed her hand on her brother's other cheek, the one that remained porcelain white because it had narrowly escaped their mother's anger. "Please don't let that thing be you."

Knowing his sister was right, Jason nodded, admitting defeat in his argument. "I'll head to bed then. Night Cher."

"Night JJ," she whispered as her brother snuck out of her room, gently shutting the door behind her.

Silently, she made her way towards her door, taking in a deep breath as she turned the key in the lock, just how Jason had shown her. She winced as the loud click shattered through the silent shadows of Thornhill. Hearing her mother's footsteps getting closer, she froze as she saw her mother's silhouette appear behind the door, hoping she'd done it right, that the door wouldn't give, that she was safe.

There was a slight jolt of the door handle, and Cheryl felt her breathe become trapped in her lungs. But true to Jason's word, the door didn't open. There was a huff of dissatisfaction from the other side of the door, and another, much more louder jolt as her mother tried to force it open, but once again the door stood firm and strong.

Climbing into bed, Cheryl let out a sigh of relief. She was safe from her mother. She was safe from the monster lurking in the shadows of Thornhill, even if it was only for that one night...


That lock would become a blessing for Cheryl as she grew up, and she tried to remind herself of that as she brought her breathing under control. As a nine year old, that night was one of the scariest of her life. It was only with age, and with leaving the house of horrors her mother had kept her trapped in, that Cheryl realised no nine year old should spend their life in terror. That no nine year-old should spent sleepless nights staring at the door while her parents argued, while her mother screamed at her brother, hoping to god that it wouldn't be her that would face the brunt of their anger. No child should have to hear the click of a lock to be able to sleep at night. Nobody should have to live like that. Nobody should have to live in terror of the shadows and the dark.

Not when they were facing something much more sinister than the prospect of the boogeyman hiding beneath the bed... no, Cheryl and Jason Blossom were facing something that chilled them to the bones... the two Blossom twins' worst nightmare was something much more real. The monster lurking in the shadows of Thornhill was far more dangerous than any with big teeth and sharp claws, and perhaps it was the fact that monster was breathing through the lungs of their mother that made it so much scarier...

It was better these days. The darkness wasn't as scary these days. With her mother miles away and confined to the depths of her past, Cheryl could sleep peacefully, or as peacefully as one can with a restless mind and a guilty conscience. But being back in Riverdale, and knowing her mother was haunting the hallways of a renovated Thornhill on the outskirts of town, it made the past all come flooding back again.

Most of all, it was hearing JJ say that, hearing the tone of his voice and seeing those expressions out the corner of her eye, those actions that were so uncannily identical to her brother's all those years ago, that took her back to the start of the argument that night and the terror that followed.

That night was the first time that Cheryl had seen her mother's anger get unrestrained. Their dad had been out of town, of managing some part of the business, whether that was the Maple Syrup one or the drugs one she had no idea. Clifford Blossom was no angel, but he was definitely a peacekeeper of sorts when it came to managing Penelope Blossom. Their mother might still get angry, but he always did something to calm the woman down before it got out of hand. He took some control before it went to far. Perhaps he really did care about his children… or perhaps the piles of shattered china gathering on his carpets were getting too expensive to replace every time his wife was in a rage.

"Mom?" Jason asked softly, placing a tentative hand on his mom's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Fighting the growing pool of tears gathering in her eyes, Cheryl nodded. "I'm fine JJ."

"Then why are you sat on the side of the road?"

"Just had an off moment," Cheryl said, standing up and patting down her trousers. "Sorry about that, baby."

"Are you sure you're okay driving though? You looked pretty scared."

"I'm fine, JJ," she insisted, giving her son a quick hug. "But thanks for caring about me."

"I love you Mom."

Cheryl smiled softly, proud of her son and glad that he wasn't going to push the matter any further. "I love you too, kiddo. I love you to the stars."

Jason beamed a smug smile as he pulled away from his mother and the pair made their way back to the car.

Taking a deep breath, Cheryl turned the key in the ignition and put her foot on the gas. "How's about we head home JJ?"

"Home?"

"Yeah," Cheryl replied. "Let's go see how Uncle Jug decorated your room in Thistlehouse…"

AN/ Thank you all for reading this and I hope you all enjoyed it. Please follow, favourite and work your magic guys, because every bit of support this gets means the world to me! After seven reviews, I'm going to post the next chapter, so get reviewing. Have a nice night :D